Identification of Industrial Equipment Using Micro-Location Services

1. A computing apparatus comprising: one or more computer-readable storage media; one or more processors operatively coupled with the one or more computer-readable storage media; and program instructions stored on the one or more computer-readable storage media that, when read and executed by the one or more processors, direct the computing apparatus to at least: detect a wireless beacon signal associated with an asset in an industrial automation environment; classify a proximity of the computing apparatus with respect to the asset as having met a proximity threshold of a set of proximity thresholds; and selectively display a subset of content associated with the asset based at least on the proximity threshold met by the computing apparatus with respect to the asset.

2. The computing apparatus of claim 1 , to selectively display the content associated with the asset based on the proximity threshold met by the computing apparatus, the program instructions direct the computing apparatus to identify the subset of the content associated with the asset that corresponds to the proximity threshold met by the computing apparatus with respect to the asset.

3. The computing apparatus of claim 2 wherein the proximity threshold comprises a distance to the asset and the set of proximity thresholds comprises a set of distances distinct from each other.

4. The computing apparatus of claim 3 wherein, to classify the proximity of the computing apparatus as having met the proximity threshold, the program instructions direct the computing apparatus to determine the distance to the asset and determine within which of the set of distances the distance to the asset falls.

5. The computing apparatus of claim 2 wherein the proximity threshold comprises a travel time to the asset and the set of proximity thresholds comprises a set of travel times distinct from each other.

6. The computing apparatus of claim 5 wherein, to classify the proximity of the computing apparatus as having met the proximity threshold, the program instructions direct the computing apparatus to determine the travel time to the asset and determine within which of the set of travel times the travel time to the asset falls.

7. The computing apparatus of claim 1 wherein the content comprises information indicative of an operational state of the asset and wherein the subset of the content comprises only a subset of the information.

8. The computing apparatus of claim 1 wherein the content comprises functions associated with the asset and wherein the subset of the content comprises only a subset of the functions.

9. A method of operating in an industrial automation environment, the method comprising: transmitting a wireless signal from a beacon associated with an asset in the industrial automation environment; receiving the wireless signal in user device in the industrial automation environment; in an application server in the industrial automation environment: determining a proximity of the user device to the asset; identifying a subset of content associated with the asset corresponding to a proximity threshold satisfied by the proximity of the user device to the asset; and sending the subset of the content to the user device; and displaying the subset of the content on the user device.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein identifying the subset of the content that corresponds to the proximity threshold comprises: classifying the proximity of the user device with respect to the asset as having met a one of multiple proximity thresholds corresponding to subsets of the content; and identifying the subset of the content corresponding the one of the multiple proximity thresholds met by the proximity of the user device to the asset.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the proximity threshold comprises a distance to the asset and the multiple proximity thresholds comprises multiple distances.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the proximity threshold comprises a travel time to the asset and the multiple proximity thresholds comprises multiple travel times.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein the content comprises information indicative of an operational state of the asset and wherein the subset of the content comprises only a subset of the information.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein the content comprises functions associated with the asset wherein the subset of the content comprises only a subset of the functions.

15. The method of claim 10 wherein the content comprises information indicative of an operational state of the asset and functions associated with the asset and wherein the subset of the content comprises only a subset of the information and a subset of the functions.

16. One or more computer-readable storage media having program instructions stored thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, direct a computing apparatus to at least: detect a wireless beacon signal associated with an asset in an industrial automation environment; classify a proximity of the computing apparatus with respect to the asset as having met a proximity threshold of a set of proximity thresholds; and selectively display a subset of content associated with the asset based at least on the proximity threshold met by the computing apparatus with respect to the asset.

17. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 16 , to selectively display the content associated with the asset based on the proximity threshold met by the computing apparatus, the program instructions direct the computing apparatus to identify the subset of the content associated with the asset that corresponds to the proximity threshold met by the computing apparatus with respect to the asset.

18. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 16 wherein the content comprises information indicative of an operational state of the asset and wherein the subset of the content comprises only a subset of the information.

19. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 16 wherein the content comprises functions associated with the asset and wherein the subset of the content comprises only a subset of the functions.

20. The one or more computer-readable storage media of claim 16 wherein: the content comprises information indicative of an operational state of the asset and functions associated with the asset; and the subset of the content comprises only a subset of the information and a subset of the functions.